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Occasions for the Creation of (Late) Medieval Compositions

Birgit Lodes

For compositions from the (late) Middle Ages, it is rarely possible to determine exact dates or even occasions of origin. Such localizations are most feasible in the realm of the so-called “state motet,”[1], where specifically commissioned Latin texts mention concrete names or events (» D. Isaac und Maximilians Zeremonien, » I. Isaac’s Amazonas, » D. Albrecht II. und Friedrich III.). However, it is exceedingly rare that we can determine specific occasions for the composition of settings of the Mass Ordinary (“Mass settings”). Because they set the fixed liturgical text, such settings are generally suitable for any polyphonically structured Mass celebration.

Nevertheless, there are ways to narrow down the time of origin of a composition—through codicological analysis, for example—and to infer, based on the use of specific textual and musical material, on which days a Mass may have been particularly appropriate. The use of a liturgical melody (e.g., for Easter, Christmas, Marian feasts, specific saints) as a cantus firmus can indicate the liturgical context for which the setting was created. Sometimes, such analysis even allows us to establish a connection to precisely dated Mass foundations.[2]

The following study aims to propose a contextualization for Jacob Obrecht’s Missa Salve diva parens and present the underlying circumstantial evidence—while fully acknowledging that this can only ever be a well-founded hypothesis rather than definitive proof. Moreover, this example demonstrates how such (hypothetical) localizations can open up perspectives for new interpretative possibilities.

[1] See Dunning 1970.

[2] Basic principles regarding the symbolic relationship between Cantus firmus material and mass composition can be found in Kirkman 2010. Reinhard Strohm can plausibly connect the creation of two Obrecht masses with foundations in Bruges (Strohm 1985, 40 f., 146 f.). For Obrecht’s Missa Sub tuum presidium, see » J. Körper und Seele.